


Day 11 - Fear

by Chibifukurou



Category: Blade (Movie Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 08:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29623605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chibifukurou/pseuds/Chibifukurou
Summary: Daystar worked and it didn’t. First turns, folks who were only newly bitten they got to go back to being fully human. Twice turned like Hannibal and the vampires that had been bumming around the world for a couple decades. They got nuked too, but they didn’t go back to full human.
Relationships: Drake/Hannibal King
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18
Collections: February Ficlet Challenge 2021: Apocalypse No





	Day 11 - Fear

Hannibal had taken the cure. Or come as close to taking it as you could when the only people who had access were Hunters and you were the fucktoy of the leader of one of the biggest Vampire organizations in the city. 

He’d arranged to be in a place where lower-class vampires had been disappearing at an unnatural rate, and made it clear he knew things about the Talos family. It only took three nights of trawling in that area before he was going through the torture that was withdrawal. 

Another six months before he was considered clean enough to even become a probationary member of the hunters. And another year and a half after that before he got a permanent posting with the Nightstalkers. Probably would have taken longer but Whistler had taken a shine to him and what she wanted pretty much went for the Nightstalkers. 

Wether that was because she was a legacy hunter or just because she was that much of a badass, Hannibal hadn’t known. And frankly, hadn’t given a shit. She was a badass, and they worked well together. (and unlike most of the other hunters she’d never given him grief about having been a part of the fang brigade)

The Nightstalkers hadn’t had it easy. They were going up against bigger, scarier prey, but they had the cure and they were working on a Daystar. The nuclear option. It seemed like Hannibal might finally get to see the end of this whole retched chapter of his life. Then fucking Dracula came back from the dead. 

Blade was a badass, almost on the level of Whistler, but the whole lot of them were majorly outclassed by someone on Dracula’s level, before you even added in the fact that his chain was getting yanked by the whole ass crazy that was Danica Talos. 

Getting dragged in for Danica’s pleasure wasn’t even a surprise. It fucking sucked ass, and Hannibal was scared fucking shitless, but he’d found a way to get free of her once. He’d do it again if he had to walk himself straight into the sun. 

Danica had him trussed up in the blood letting pit. Chained down, not even able to stand up. It was the way she liked the victims she had a personal hard on for. She left him there to stew for most of the night, cold and still injured. He half figured she’d leave him there until Whistler and Blade came knocking. 

But she was just as impatient as ever. She had to get her hands on him, her rebellious fuck toy. Fill his ears full of pretty promises to turn him rabid and have him eat Zoe up. He had to let her have her fun, and get her brother in on it. Let them get their teeth into him. 

His insistence on keeping a couple doses of the cure in a bracelet had always struck Whistler as paranoid, but sometimes you had to be a little bit paranoid and a whole lot lucky.

The Talos’ and their attack dog writhed on the floor, as he used his newly provided vampire strength to rip off the chains. A good hunter would leave them there now that they were human. He killed all three and went for Zoe. No way was he going to be able to get her off of Dracula if he was still playing watchdog. But they hadn’t gotten Whistler or Blade, not if they were still trying to extort information out of Hannibal. 

They would be coming and Hannibal would get his chance once Dracula was distracted. He’d been dragged around this fucking building on Danica’s arm for years. Nobody knew the place better. 

He found a vantage point high up, watched as the assault started. Once Blade and Dracula started in on each other, he watched long enough to make sure Whistler was going to provide backup, then went for Zoe. 

Shooting the two vamps menacing her felt fucking great, but not as great as having her wrap herself around his legs. Still warm and breathing. At least one of them made it through this alive. He got her up in his arms and he ran. The original cure couldn’t fix a second turning. But Daystar would be hitting soon and hopefully that would. 

Either way he needed to get Zoe somewhere safe and away from all the Vamps before he either had to feed, or got laid out by the cure for a couple hours. 

#

Daystar worked and it didn’t. First turns, folks who were only newly bitten they got to go back to being fully human. Twice turned like Hannibal and the vampires that had been bumming around the world for a couple decades. They got nuked too, but they didn’t go back to full human. 

The hunger was still in them, the beast with its extra strength and killer instincts. Not something you could ignore, but not something that was gonna put all other thoughts out of your head. And if you were good about making sure you got enough protein and animal blood you could live a pretty normal life. 

Not that your average couple centuries old vamp was interested in the normal life. Instead, the Hunters found themselves going up a bunch of stronger than average humans with a craving for blood. “Gang warfare” became the watchword on every news outlet world over. 

Hannibal did what he could, had gotten together a Hunting party of his own. Folks who had been turned against their will and wanted to see the Old school vamps world demolished. But he and his were on the outside looking in to both Hunter and vamp communities. When it came down to the sacrifice play he wasn’t surprised when he got called up. 

Whistler met him in a diner they’d used to use when they were the Daystalkers’ primary hunters instead of leaders of two different hunter groups made up of two different species. 

She’d ordered their usual black coffees and doughnuts, even been kind enough to dose his coffee with some pigs blood.“There’s a new player in town. Full vamps being turned again.” 

“Fuck.”

“He’s saying he doesn’t want war with the hunters. Just a chance for him and his to build their species again.” Her hand was tight enough around her mug to turn her knuckles white. “It’s playing well with the higher ups.”

“If he’s got a bunch of full vamps, I’m not sending my people in there to die. Not even for you.”

Her eyes were full of rage when they met his. "We have a chance…”

“We tried for a cure. If it had killed every vamp out there, we would have had a chance.” How much did it suck that he still got to be the voice of reason, when he wasn’t even human anymore? 

“It would have killed you if it worked. You should already be-”

“Yeah I should be. But I’m fucking not.” He grabbed the last doughnut off the plate. "Send Blade in there if you want someone playing on their level.”

“He’s not handling the cure well.” 

No fucking shit. Hannibal’s contacts among the hunters said he’d gone back to partial human same as everybody else. Only his hunger wasn’t easing off, and his old meds weren’t cutting it. 

“I love you, I owe you. If it was just me I’d jump into the fucking jaws of death with you. But it’s not. And if we die, you Hunters aren’t going to give a shit about protecting mine.”

She opened her mouth but he cut her off before she could speak. “Tell me I’m fucking wrong. Tell me that your second in command would give them access to weapons or intel.”

Her mouth snapped shut. 

“How is Zoe doing? You said you got her into some gifted program right?” He wanted to know but it was also a peace offering. Zoe the last thread that connected them to their old lives, to better times. 

“Yeah, a boarding school. Out in the country. Too far out for a big group of vamps to stay hidden.”

#

Hannibal doesn’t know if there was a leak in the Hunter’s network or it was just his shit luck, but it was barely a week after the meeting with Whistler when he finds a fucking Dracula sitting in the church basement his team uses as cover for their meetings. But he’s leaning towards the leak. His team isn’t hunting big enough game to be a threat to the apex vampire.

He’s tempted to go for the pistol at the sight of him, sitting there smug and very much alive. Fucking hunters, did they even check he’d stayed dead after that trick he’d pulled pretending to be Blade. “Meetings for recovering vamps only.”

“And what makes you think I’m not a recovering vamp?” His smile is all human. Not a hint of alien biology in sight.

Hannibal tried to send the abort meeting text to the others as subtly as possible. The way Dracula’s eyes move to his hand and back isn’t encouraging, but the vamp doesn’t jump him. He’ll take what he can get. “A full vamp immune to Daystar virus tries to reach out to hunters. They say no and you show up at my meeting. I’m not a fucking moron.” 

And there go his fucking eyes and fangs. “No? You think speaking to me like that makes you smart?”

Hannibal doesn’t bother stifling his bark of laughter. “You already fed me to my personal nightmare. I made sure you couldn’t do it again. So kill me, turn me, or say what you’re going to and get out.”

That seemed to catch the fucker wrong footed. Probably not used to playing second fiddle in someone else’s nightmares. 

“You will stop killing the older vampires.”

“No. I fucking won’t.”

Dracula’s eyes started glowing stronger. He leaned forward, ready to spring, “That was not a request.”

Hannibal stomped down his instinctive urge to posture back.“Didn’t think it was. If one of my people wants to kill their sire for turning them against their will I’m not fucking telling them no.”

That got Dracula to jerk back, not surprised exactly. It was still more than Hannibal had expected.

“I get it. You were a God or something and everybody wanted to be like you back in the day. But this isn’t back in your day and those fuckers don’t get to hide from what they’ve done." He was only getting one chance at this. If it killed him, at least he’d get to make fucking sure Dracula knew what his little sycophants got up to. “You want to kill us for that, we’re taking as many of those fuckers with us as we can. I don’t care any orders you fucking give.”

Dracula didn’t move for a long time after that. Didn't say anything. Might as well have been a statue. 

Normally Hannibal would have started to fidget from the tension, but adrenaline was still singing through his veins and he wouldn’t be the one who backed down first. 

The lights flickered, and when they came back up Hannibal was alone in the church basement. Could have imagined the whole thing. 

#

He found a new place for them to meet, scheduled a different day of the week. Things stay quiet for the first two meetings. The third finds three high-level ex vamps tied up and waiting when Hannibal comes in to set up. They’re all on the list Hannibal keeps of vamps who liked to get their rocks off by turning anyone and everyone they can get their fangs into. 

There’s even a note like they are some kind of fucked up Christmas present. “Those that won’t follow the new code will be punished.”

It doesn’t actually say what the new code is, but Hannibal isn’t going to look this gift horse in the mouth. Not when that mouth is full of fangs. 

After that, their targets stop being as hard to catch. It was obvious something was happening in the ex vampire community and it was leaving a lot of the worst offenders out in the cold. Hannibal’s team got new recruits who wanted revenge on those that turned them. Some Hannibal was sure were Dracula’s plants, but as long as they aren’t feeding off humans who don’t want it or trying to turn others, Hannibal doesn’t give a shit. 

He sent people of his own to Dracula. Ex vamps who weren’t handling the cure well, but weren’t going out targeting humans. People he knew from back in the day with the Talos who were as decent as you could be in a place like that. 

Dracula still hadn’t seen fit to share his “Code” with Hannibal, but whatever it was, it seemed to be on a similar wavelength with where Hannibal was at with his rules of engagement. 

#

It was too good to last. The human hunters decided his team had allied themselves with the new vampires and needed to be exterminated. Hannibal got as many of his people as he could out. Sent them to hide out with Dracula’s people. As probably the only group left that won’t try to kill them or make them join up to get protection. 

He stayed behind, gave the hunters a good show. Took out half their group before they took him down. They weren’t working with Whistler, that was obvious from their shit training. That was as much mercy as Hannibal probably deserved. That it wasn’t his old best friend and ally trying to take him out. 

They started in on the beating, demanding to know who his team was, where he’d sent them. What he knew about Dracula’s operation. Hannibal laughed when he had the breath for it, screamed or moaned when he didn’t. Fucking amateurs. Danica would have had him begging in half the time. 

They’re still enough to leave him bleeding out slowly from a few dozen wounds. His vision and hearing started to gray out. He doesn’t notice when the gunfire starts or the screaming. By the time he realized what was happening, Dracula was standing in front of him. 

Hannibal’s second in command was standing behind him, looking both pissed as hell and terrified. 

“I offer you my bite, Hannibal King. If you choose it you can continue your mission to punish those who would weaken the vampire race by spreading our gifts without reason or care. If you prefer to die, you will be honored for the work you have done.”

The blood loss was making things hazy and unreal. He wanted to go to sleep and not have to make a decision. But sleeping would be the same as dying. And Terrifying as it was to consider becoming a vampire, he wasn’t ready to go yet. "I accept.”

Dracula’s mouth split wide, like a flower opening. A sharp pain radiated from Hannibal’s neck and shoulder, chasing the haziness from his mind. 

Fear followed on its heels, but Dracula was already pulling away, his face turning back into its near human visage. He ripped the cuffs from Hannibal’s arms and lifted him to his feet. “Get up. We have work to do.”


End file.
